


Rose to the Occasion

by Astronaut_Milky



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Secret Admirer, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2019-03-12 01:56:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13537224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Astronaut_Milky/pseuds/Astronaut_Milky
Summary: “So… anything we should know about?”He squinted his eyes, wary of her teasing tone. She tilted her chin, gesturing to his desk, and when he followed her eyeline his confusion only increased.A rose.A single white rose, placed on his desk next to his mug.





	Rose to the Occasion

**Author's Note:**

> Me: Alright back into work, increased hours, starting a screenwriting course, basically no free time
> 
> Also me: You should totally write a fic for every single Valentine's Day prompt
> 
> Welcome to hell. Please also note that I rarely write fluff and it's now harder for me to write fluff than it is to write smut. 
> 
> Thanks as always tobeconspicuous for making this actually good, and for giving me puns for titles! (And for convincing me to write this. Not that it ever takes any convincing.)
> 
> Prompt: Roses
> 
> Kudos/comments are always appreciated!

**Truth**

 

It was a cool Monday morning when Sonny strolled into the station, coffees for the squad in hand, ready to start the morning of paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork.

 

Sonny flashed a warm smile as he passed Rollins her coffee.

 

“How are you so alive first thing in the morning?” she groaned, gratefully accepting her cappuccino.

 

“They don't call me Sonny for nothin’,” he joked as he handed Fin his coffee.

 

Rollins scowled, clearly not caffeinated enough to appreciate his fine humour. Then in a heartbeat, her face lifted into a knowing smirk, one that made Sonny instantly suspicious.

 

“So… anything we should know about?” 

 

He squinted his eyes, wary of her teasing tone. She tilted her chin, gesturing to his desk, and when he followed her eyeline his confusion only increased.

 

A rose.

 

A single white rose, placed on his desk next to his mug.

 

He dropped into his chair, racking his brain for who might have left the rose on his desk. Unfortunately he was hopelessly single, and had been for quite some time, so he couldn't think of who it might have been.

 

“Did you see who left it?” he asked, glancing between Rollins and Fin. Fin who just shrugged in lieu of a verbal response, and Rollins whose smirk grew wider with intrigue.

 

“Nope.”

 

He picked the flower up, turning it over in his hands as if it might provide some kind of clue to who left it for him. The lack of note, and the distinct lack of a love life, had him drawing a blank.

 

So he chose instead, to move the flower out of the way, and enjoy the warm comfort in knowing that someone, somewhere, was thinking about him.

  
  


**Enchantment**

 

Tuesday morning was dragging along slowly. He had a later start, so by the time he reached the precinct, the sun was high and he was ready to plow through more paperwork.

 

As he stepped into the bullpen, he was met with Rollins perched on the edge of his desk, as if she was waiting for him.

 

Once again, a smirk was planted her lips, her eyes playful, and he felt a sense of dread wash through him.

 

“What now?” he asked instead of a greeting, his voice laced with suspicion.

 

“Who is she?”

 

He let out a dramatic sigh as he sat at his desk, ready to ask if Rollins had nothing better to do than pry into his life, when something stopped him.

 

A soft lilac rose, in nearly an identical place to the morning before.

 

“I… have no idea,” he said slowly, picking the flower up to rake his eyes over it. Once again there was no note.

 

Before Rollins could respond, Liv’s door opened and through it strode Barba, looking positively dashing in a dark grey suit, with an intricately patterned lavender tie.

 

He passed by Sonny and Rollins with nothing but a slight nod, and a shadow of a smile. Sonny ignored the pointed stare Rollins gave him, just as he ignored the skip of his heartbeat over the sight of twinkling green eyes giving him the most minute of glances. 

  
  


**Joy**

 

It had been a hell of a day already. At five in the morning, Rollins had called him to say they had a victim in the hospital. Once the ball started rolling on interviews, hours had passed and yet Sonny felt as though he had achieved nothing. No one had witnessed anything, the victim had no partners or exes who would want to hurt her, and the assault had occurred in an alley with no security cameras.

 

All in all, it was already a tough case to get any information on.

 

With an exhausted sigh, he stepped out of the elevator, keen get ahead on the paperwork he needed to send over to Barba. The bullpen was mostly empty when he reached his desk, with Fin being the only one working, hunched over his computer. Sonny was about to offer to make him a coffee, when a flash of yellow caught his eye.

 

“Seriously?” he exclaimed, causing Fin’s head to whip up. “What's the deal with the flowers?”

 

Fin shrugged carelessly. “Guess someone likes you.”

 

Sonny grabbed the offending flower, gesturing with it wildly. “Who would be so ridiculous that they'd leave a flower but not a note? What kind of mind game is that?”

 

“Maybe they want you to be happy, but they don't think they could make you happy,” he simply replied. Sonny had been ready to continue ranting about the third rose, but Fin’s surprising insightfulness stunned him into silence.

 

Perhaps someone did want him to just be happy, or at least feel appreciated. So although his curiosity was kicking into overdrive, Sonny chose to stick with enjoying the warm feeling spreading through his chest.

 

The day passed smoothly as he finalised the last of the paperwork for Barba, occasionally stealing a glance at the bright yellow rose, relishing in how filled his whole body with a comfortable heat.

 

As Liv was leaving the office to visit Barba, he passed over the manila folder containing the forms he had poured over all day, praying the prosecutor would appreciate the post-it notes he had left with his thoughts on the case. A simple gesture that he regularly offered, and although Barba had never commented on it, he had also never explicitly said to stop. 

 

So Sonny left his little insights, maintaining the smallest connection even if they rarely saw each other these days. Anything to help Barba out.

  
  


**Gratitude**

 

Sonny always found that with every new case, his thoughts would be consumed with the weight of the victim's experience. His nights were filled with a tight fear gripping his chest, shallow breathing, and a constant electricity running through his veins.

 

So when he huffed and grumbled his way to his desk, a large black coffee in hand, he knew the squad could tell he had barely slept a wink.

 

“Wrong side of the bed this morning?” Rollins teased from her own desk.

 

He didn't even have the energy to snap back, instead opting for an eye roll and a sigh. Everything felt off. His chair was uncomfortable, his screen far too bright, his coffee bordering on burnt.

 

The only saving grace was the deep pink rose, resting so perfectly on his desk, waiting for him.

 

There was no note, but Sonny found himself not wanting one. There was some kind of comfort knowing that someone who knew him wanted to show that they cared.

 

The biggest reason he was grateful for the lack of note, however, was that there was one person he wanted the roses to be from. And he was positively certain that person was not the one leaving the gifts on his desk every day.

 

Anonymity was almost bliss when it came to the roses.

  
  


**Passion**

 

Sonny had never understood how people could be so overwhelmed with their desires that they wanted to kiss the smirk off another person.

 

But on the chilly Friday morning when he and Barba had stepped into the elevator at the same time, he suspected he was beginning to understand.

 

“Nice tie, Detective,” Barba teased smoothly, his eyes flicking to the cheap navy tie Sonny had thrown on that morning.

 

“Back at you, Counselor,” he replied, gesturing to Barba's own tie, an amber orange that reminded Sonny of a good scotch, the kind of tie only Rafael Barba could pull off.

 

The whole ride he could feel Barba's eyes flicking towards him, just as he could feel himself occasionally glancing Barba's way. The tension was stifling and exciting, and Sonny was once again filled with a desire to kiss the slight smirk off of Barba's lips.

 

By the time they had reached the bullpen, Sonny's palms were sweating. He wanted to do  _ something  _ to be closer to Barba, but he couldn't bring himself to take the next step. So instead he watched on as Barba retreated into Liv's office, wishing he could be brave enough to take a risk.

 

“Any presents this morning?” Rollins asked, more excited than teasing. She had been texting him the night before, begging him to try and figure out the culprit. Apparently this was a romance for the ages, and no matter how many times Sonny reminded her that his mystery gift-giver clearly did not want to be discovered, she still maintained that something would come from this.

 

He perched himself on the edge of his desk, leaning over to where a flower was sure to be.

 

A sunset orange rose laid waiting for him, bright and warm.

 

“Wow, orange today. That's a bold choice,” Amanda commented.

 

Something clicked in Sonny's mind.

 

Orange.

 

He glanced into Liv's office, just as Barba's eyes flicked in his direction. Those beautiful green beauties pierced him, knowing him more in the half-second their eyes met, than they ever had before.

 

And then he was looking back at Liv, and Sonny was staring at the rose in his hands, and there was only one thought flashing through his mind.

 

Hope.

  
  


**Love**

 

For a day that had start off so perfectly, he couldn't believe how his luck has turned around.

 

He had been called away from the precinct soon after Barba had gone into Liv's office, meaning he couldn't enjoy another round of flirting with the prosecutor. 

 

Then he had ended up in an unfortunate foot pursuit after a perp, resulting in him running headfirst into a light pole. 

 

After spending three hours interviewing said perp, and another five hours trying to make a dent in his ever-growing pile of paperwork, Liv had ordered him to head on home. He had attempted to refuse, but she was adamant in him leaving, so he grabbed his coat and began his walk to the nearest subway station, trying to decide what takeaway he wanted for dinner.

 

To top it all off, as he plunged his hands into his pockets to protect them from the wind, he realised something.

 

He had left his wallet on his desk. 

 

The exhausted part of him, that desperately wanted to curl into a ball and ignore the world for a moment, told him to get it tomorrow. But a louder, more rational part of him, ordered him to make the trek back to the office.

 

After what felt like an age, he finally reached the elevator. The music was grating and too loud for his tired mind to handle, so when the doors opened, he nearly ran to escape the high-pitched jingle.

 

In his haste, he nearly missed it. Nearly. But his eyes picked up on the final moments of Rafael Barba, standing behind his desk, delicately placing a single red rose on top.

 

He froze. He froze, and watched on, as Rafael stepped back and reviewed his handiwork. Then a most beautiful, warm smile graced the older man’s lips, and Sonny’s heart started beating unbearably fast.

 

It was Barba. It was him all along.

 

He was about to open his mouth, about to pour his heart out, when Barba lifted his head and spotted Sonny.

 

Then it was Barba's turn to freeze. His shoulders tensed, just as Sonny's relaxed.

 

“Barba-”

 

“Detective. I thought you were finished for the day.”

 

Sonny glanced to the desk. “Forgot my wallet.”

 

Barba clenched his jaw and nodded, too quickly to be natural.

 

“Right. Well, just had to drop off a form. Best be off.” His tone was clipped and, Sonny realised in an instant, nervous. He was  _ nervous. _ For what felt like the first time in their relationship, Sonny had the upper hand.

 

“I didn't know forms came in the colour red,” he teased, taking a step towards Barba, who instinctively stepped away.

 

“I haven't a clue what you mean.”

 

“Are forms always so… floral?”

 

He stepped forward once again, though Barba made no attempt to move this time.

 

“I- I don't know-”

 

Barba was flustered, stammering, and Sonny had half a mind to continue teasing him, to relish in having the power. But he also wanted to show Barba just how happy the past week had made him feel, how it had oddly been just what he needed.

 

“Barba, are you doing anything tonight?”

 

Instantly he relaxed, a slight grin appearing on his lips.

 

“Not yet, but I could be persuaded into a few drinks.”

 

Sonny swallowed. This was real. This was happening.

 

He gestured to the elevator.

 

“Lead the way.”

 

They walked side-by-side, shoulders brushing against each other with every step.

 

“Hold on,” he stopped as Barba pressed the button to call the elevator. “Forgot something.”

 

He jogged back over to his desk, grabbing his wallet.

 

The scarlet rose was laying perfectly for him, but underneath was something new.

 

A note.

 

He picked it up, and read the scrawling handwriting.

 

_ Sonny, _

_ The words to express how you make me feel, refuse to come to me, as they are not enough. Nothing, not even the most romantic poetry, could ever convey how much I wish I could be the one to make you smile every single day. _

_ I hope these flowers were enough. _

_ x _

 

He couldn't fight the wide grin tugging at his lips, even if he tried. So he tucked the note into his pocket, and picked up the final rose, ready to enjoy a night with Barba; to enjoy the beginning of something beautiful.

**Author's Note:**

> Each different coloured rose has a meaning. The meaning is the title of each section. Basically Rafael is now a flower nerd and I love him for that.


End file.
